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Benedict Iroha
Personal information
Date of birth	(1969-11-29) 29 November 1969 (age 55)
Place of birth	Aba, Nigeria
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Left-back, left midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1989	Bendel Insurance
1990	Iwuanyanwu Nationale
1991–1992	ASEC Mimosas	?	(?)
1992–1996	Vitesse Arnhem	21	(1)
1996–1997	San Jose Clash	33	(2)
1997	D.C. United	17	(4)
1997–1998	Elche	1	(0)
1998–2000	Watford	10	(0)
Total		82	(7)
International career
1990–1998	Nigeria	50	(1)
Managerial career
2000–2006	FC Dallas (Youth Coach)
2007	Nigeria U-17 (assistant coach)
2007–2008	Dolphins FC
2009–2010	Heartland F.C. (Chief Trainer)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Benedict "Ben" Iroha (born 29 November 1969) is a Nigerian former professional association football player who played as a left-back or left midfielder.

Career

Iroha started his career in Nigeria, scoring the first ever goal in the newly professional Nigerian league in 1990 for Iwuanyanwu Nationale, who went on to win the league that year.^[1]

Iroha was originally a midfielder before national coach Clemens Westerhof converted him to play left back. His club career in Europe was largely unsuccessful, and Iroha was allocated to San Jose Clash in 1996. Iroha ended up playing in the inaugural MLS match against D.C. United, and is credited with the league's first-ever assist.^[2]^[3] The next season, he was traded to D.C. United, where he won the league title but was dropped to comply with salary restrictions. He entered negotiations with the team to re-sign his contract, but they were halted after Iroha was called up to the World Cup squad for Nigeria.^[4] After a move to Spanish side Elche CF in 1997, he moved to Watford in December 1998, playing ten games for the Hertfordshire side. A problem with bunions forced him to the sidelines, and he retired in March 2000.

International career

Playing for the Nigerian national team, he has featured in the 1994 FIFA World Cup and the 1998 FIFA World Cup as well as when they won the 1994 African Nations Cup.

Coaching career

After retiring, he returned to the US to coach in the youth department of FC Dallas. Most recently, he was an assistant with the Nigerian U-17 team that won the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup and head coach of Nigeria's Dolphins FC. Iroha is on the staff of Heartland of Owerri.

References

^ Solaja, Kunle (12 May 2018). "NIGERIA PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE CLOCKS 28". Sports Village Square.
^ "MLS celebrates 20th anniversary of DC United v San Jose". 1 April 2016.
^ "Watch the first-ever MLS Match: San Jose Clash vs D.C. United". MLS. 6 April 2016. Archived from the original on 10 August 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
^ Goff, Steven (1 June 1998). "Iroha Called Up By Nigeria; United Was Seeking To Acquire Player". The Washington Post. p. D10.

v t e 1994 Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament
Goalkeepers	Ahmed Shobair
Defenders	Frank Amankwah Harrison Chongo Elijah Litana Benedict Iroha
Midfielders	Serge Maguy Jay-Jay Okocha Daniel Amokachi Abedi Pele
Forwards	Joël Tiéhi Rashidi Yekini

Nigeria squads

v t e Nigeria squad – 1990 African Cup of Nations runners-up
GK Agu DF Aminu DF Uwe DF Okechukwu MF Oliha MF Ogunlana MF Kpakor FW Yekini MF Okocha DF Adeshina DF Anijekwu FW Amokachi DF Iroha MF Ipaye FW Elahor DF Semitoje MF Bazuaye Oyekanmi Coach: Westerhof

v t e Nigeria squad – 1994 African Cup of Nations winners (2nd title)
1 Agbonavbare 2 Eguavoen 3 Iroha 4 Keshi (c) 5 Uche 6 Okafor 7 Finidi 8 Oliha 9 Yekini 10 Okocha 11 Amunike 12 Semitoje 13 Siasia 14 Amokachi 15 Oliseh 16 Agu 17 Ikpeba 18 Ekoku 19 Ugbade 20 Fuludu 21 Adepoju 22 Rufai Coach: Westerhof

v t e Nigeria squad – 1994 FIFA World Cup
1 Rufai (c) 2 Eguavoen 3 Iroha 4 Keshi 5 Uche 6 Nwanu 7 George 8 Oliha 9 Yekini 10 Okocha 11 Amunike 12 Siasia 13 Ezeugo 14 Amokachi 15 Oliseh 16 Agu 17 Ikpeba 18 Ekoku 19 Emenalo 20 Okafor 21 Adepoju 22 Agbonavbare Coach: Westerhof

v t e Nigeria squad – 1995 King Fahd Cup fourth place
1 Rufai 2 Eguavoen 3 Iroha 4 Keshi (c) 5 Uche 6 Mutairu 7 Imenger 8 Adepoju 9 Iorfa 10 Okocha 11 Amunike 12 Siasia 13 Oliseh 14 Amokachi 15 Douglas 16 Shorunmu 17 Pam 18 Ekoku 19 Emenalo 20 Okafor Coach: Amodu

v t e Nigeria squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup
1 Rufai 2 Oparaku 3 Babayaro 4 Kanu 5 Uche (c) 6 West 7 Finidi 8 Adepoju 9 Yekini 10 Okocha 11 Lawal 12 W. Okpara 13 Babangida 14 Amokachi 15 Oliseh 16 Okafor 17 Eguavoen 18 Oruma 19 Iroha 20 Ikpeba 21 G. Okpara 22 Baruwa Coach: Milutinović

External links

Benedict Iroha at National-Football-Teams.com
Benedict Iroha at Soccerway

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